Need separate Marriage Act for Sikhs: Amarinder

New Delhi: Where do we register our
marriages? This was former Punjab chief minister Amarinder
Singh`s poser to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday.

Singh met Chidambaram and drew his attention to the fact
that that the Sikh Marriage Act was annulled in 1955 and
merged with Hindu Marriage Act.

He submitted a representation and demanded a separate Act
to give legal sanctity to the marriages under Sikh religion.

The home minister has assured that the Centre will look
into the issue sympathetically, Singh said.

"I have apprised the home minister about the absence of
any law for solemnising Sikh marriages and the necessity of
enacting a law in this effect. He assured me to look into the
demand positively," Singh said.

He said the government of India, under the aegis of then
Viceroy of India, enacted the Anand Marriage Act for the Sikhs
in 1909.

The cause of this was that in 1902, the Chief Khalsa
Diwan was formed and in 1906 this was followed by the
formation of the Muslim League and in 1907 the Hindu Maha
Sabha was constituted, he said.

As a consequence, marriages among Sikhs were held under
this Act in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib, and this
practice continued till 1995 when in Independent India, the
Sikh Marriage Act was replaced and included in the Hindu
Marriage Act in which four communities were clubbed together
-- Hindu, Sikhs, Buddhist and Jain, Singh said.

"Following this, the Sikhs have been demanding for a
separate Anand Marriage Act as was prevalent in 1909 for
registering the Sikh marriage separately," he said.